Private credit: floating-rate benefits and risks

Sonali Basak joins the Master Investor Podcast to discuss her transition from Bloomberg anchor to Chief Investment Strategist at iCapital, a key player in democratising access to private markets.

The former lead Wall Street correspondent at Bloomberg Television and host of "Bullish," shares insights on iCapital's role in this new age of retail investing, explaining how technology is lowering minimum investment levels without removing rigorous due diligence.

Basak cautions on bond market risks, predicting fewer Fed cuts in early 2026 and potential upticks in long-end yields due to US fiscal pressures and global spillovers from Japan and Europe. In private credit, she highlights floating-rate benefits in a higher-rate environment but warns of vintage risks from low-rate deals and urges focus on proven managers. On equities, she welcomes market broadening beyond the Magnificent 7, favouring infrastructure software over vulnerable SaaS amid AI shifts.

The episode traces Basak's path from broadcasting to investing - the reverse of Wilf’s - reflecting on what she has learnt from some of her most high profile guests while at Bloomberg, including Stan Druckenmiller and Ken Griffin. She advises young professionals to embrace inexperience as an edge and embrace being new to a situation.

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